Lumpofco
by Brendalwood
Summary: Just a little Christmas story.


Hi all. FF ate my other Xmas fic so I hope this one shot is full of feeling and explains Elizabeth's comment about how she looked at those Christmas presents "one time" in season 6. It's set in 1994 and is a little bit AU so that my story works. I tend to like canon but with a twist of things that grab you and make you say Aww. I love the marriage. For the MSEC kingdom Elizabeth is born in 1968 and Henry is 5 years older.

As usual I own none of it I just love the show and the characters slay me.

...

Elizabeth McCord was sitting under the Christmas tree, eyeing, touching and even shaking the various gifts that lay there. Her focus was laser like, so much so that she startled when she felt a hand land on her left shoulder. She dropped the present as she heard "Elizabeth Adams McCord- I hereby charge you with crimes against the Santa Code." She laughed and then winced as she turned to face Henry "If I plead guilty what's my sentence?" He gently lifted her to a standing position and he lightly fingered the scratches on her face, and kissed her bruised jaw. His eyes searched for hers and she could see him struggling for composure. Swallowing hard she tried to lighten the mood "does this mean I get coal in my stocking? A switch from the bush outside? 'Cuz that could be fun" she smirked conspiratorially at him. He cupped her chin gently and said evenly " I think you've been beaten enough lately babe." He lead her to the couch, and then sat next to her. She could feel the tension. "Henry I know you are furious with me..." she began. He laughed. "Oh Elizabeth I am a lot of things right now but I couldn't be furious with you if I tried. Not today. Today I am so grateful that you are here with me, in that T shirt. Which by the way, you're bleeding on." "Oh no, where?" She frantically lowered the sleeve on her right side and examined the bandage that lay there. It was clean and she immediately twisted to look over her shoulder before Henry could stop her. "Oh Ow. Henry you freaked me out" she scolded. "I love this shirt and Peter isn't touring this year and maybe I should change into something else." Henry placed a finger under her indignant chin and kissed her softly. Then he quietly spoke "You scared the hell out of me you know. I had no idea they sent to you to Iraq. I get a phone call from Conrad Dalton telling me you have been taken hostage and that it's been 28 hours and no one knows where you have been taken. Which makes no sense to me because you are supposed to be in Cairo on a research trip." Elizabeth blushed and looked at her hands resting in her lap. "Henry I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. I could go to jail if ..". Henry sighed and lay his forehead against hers. "Baby I know. I also know that you were ambushed and that your actions at the market saved 27 people, most of whom were women and children. I am so proud of you I could burst. But let me be relieved that the bullet went through your shoulder, without doing much damage, and let me be thankful that your face soon won't look like a punching bag for terrorists. Let me be grateful that the kicks to your ribs didn't do more than crack them, and finally let me be clear...". His voice trailed off and she could hear the tears in his voice. She gulped and took his face in her hands. "I love you with my whole soul Henry. I was coming home to you no matter what they did to me" she said fiercely. He nodded and peppered kisses down her right arm. "You kept your word my beautiful wife. Because while I was talking to Conrad last week I wanted to rip his face off but I knew he needed to find you. The fact that it took another 23 hours and 11 minutes was, well, it was an experience I never want to repeat. You got that? ". She smiled at him and said "Because you didn't spend a couple of years over there fighting Desert Storm? And I wasn't home in this apartment terrified to hear that I had become a widow." It was his turn to look at his lap. She stood and ruffled his hair. She turned to the tree and plucked an oddly shaped package off of the right side, an envelope with a small red bow. She grinned at him, as much as her jaw would allow and watched gleefully as he opened the flap. His face changed completely. He jumped up and whirled her around "Elizabeth!" She squealed and he put her down "oh God I just broke your ribs." She huffed and rubbed her left side. "It's OK. I am pretty tough for a girl" she giggled. His eyes were wild. "A baby. A baby. I am going to be a dad!" She nodded. "And everything is fine. It happened when they were checking me out in Baghdad. The results were confirmed in Germany before I came home. Merry Christmas honey!" He swooped her up on his arms and sat down on the couch, cradling her. Her blue eyes teared up as she heard him start talking to her stomach. "Hi Baby! It's your dad. I am so excited that you are in there growing and that you are safe and I am going to teach you everything you need to know about everything and lesson number one is that you have the most incredibly strong and beautiful mother. She'll protect you from anything because she already protects kids she doesn't even know. She's braver than anyone I have ever met and she's the best math teacher you could ever want and she's my whole heart. You are too sweet pea." Elizabeth laughed "Henry I don't think our son wants to be called Sweet Pea" she scolded gently. Henry winked at his wife. "It's a girl babe, it's a beautiful baby girl and she's going to look just like you and next Christmas I am going to be like Mufassa in that movie we saw this summer and holy moly honey- I am going to have to get my doctorate so I can earn enough to support the both of you. Because if you think I am letting you go back over there and get yourself killed Mrs. McCord- you're crazy!" Elizabeth sighed. She knew enough to save that battle for after her injuries were healed. She changed the subject "hey if I am growing is a human don't you think I should have some food?Because before you busted me for shaking Christmas presents weren't you making us some dinner?" As if on cue her stomach gurgled noisily. Henry jumped up " the Mac and cheese" he cried and raced into he kitchen. "Get in here gorgeous, I can't believe I am about to say this, but you saved our dinner!" Smiling to herself she sauntered to the table. "See, I think that deserves a present" she teased. Henry returned her grin. "That it does" he agreed. He ran to the closet - not what she was expecting- and suddenly she found herself being surveilled by a cam corder. "Surprise! I won this cam corder on a radio show last week. I picked it up yesterday after my class ended- and now we have a reason to make home movies!" Elizabeth chuckled " Professor how did you win the camera?" He lowered the device and looked her straight in the eye. "It was a question about why we wanted to record our memories with our loved ones. I had just heard you were alive and coming home and I told the DJ that my beautiful, incredible wife had been serving her country and was finally coming home. I told him you were 26 years old and that you were my hero. He asked me if we had any kids and I said not yet, but that I wanted to start a family with the woman who melted my heart from the moment I heard her speak." Elizabeth felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Oh Henry" and she launched herself into his arms. He placed the camera on the table and held her as tightly as he dared. He whispered in her ear "Have you figured out that I cherish you yet? Do I need to buy you a pony? Because babe, I will do anything to be the man beside you for eternity." She gave him a watery smile "I bet I could run for President and you would support me. I wish my parents were here to meet you and to meet our baby." Henry nuzzled her neck and kissed her ear "I wish they were here too. From what you and Will have told me about your dad I think he'd be on my side about your dangerous escapades." Elizabeth laughed through her tears. "I was about 8 when I fell in the creek and hit my head and swallowed some water. I was near the creek because my friend Samantha had dared me to jump it with my bike. I didn't see my bike for that entire summer and I got a spanking I still haven't forgotten." Henry kept kissing her. "But did you stay out of trouble?" Passionately she returned the kisses "I stayed out of trouble until the next time." Henry groaned "are you trying to tell me that I am going to have to worry about you all the time?" He gently kissed her jaw and began tugging at her shirt. She began tugging at his clothing too "Mac and Cheese reheats well right? And no, don't worry about me. I'll handle myself and you can kiss the boo boos. If we have a daughter I want her to be strong and independent too." Henry growled and began tickling her as he removed her clothing and dropped it on the floor. "You are incorrigible babe. I give up for today. Just don't get beaten or shot and I bet we can work the rest out OK?" Nodding in agreement she freed him from his jeans. "Can we take this to the bedroom please Professor?" He grunted his agreement and lead her down the hall.

About an hour later they were relaxing in bed and Henry was playing with her hair "This is the best Christmas ever Mrs McCord. Even if you get coal from Santa". She pouted " But you said I was amazing" she purred "and I have your daughter in my womb." Henry gently inspected and then kissed her shoulder. " Ahh but you plead guilty to investigating all the presents, and you made your husband go grey at the ripe old age of 31. And if we look at your shoulder and face we have all the evidence we need to convict." She sighed. " So can I appeal the verdict then?" Henry smiled at her "you have 24 hours to appeal and then it will be time for Santa to come and I guess we'll just have to see what he says." Elizabeth sighed. "Mr. McCord I have faith. No matter what I am guilty of Santa knows I love Christmas and you and this baby. I also love my job and my country."

On the morning of the 25th Elizabeth dragged Henry into the living room and she was horrified to discover that her present was a bag of charcoal for a barbecue. He let her stew for about a minute and the. He presented her with a small box. Inside was a beautiful necklace. It had a tree full of branches inside a small circle and one of the branches had her birthstone and one had his. There was room for other birthstones and he explained that as they had their family, each child could be added to the necklace. He also told her to be grateful for the charcoal. "Someday hon we are going to have a real house and there will be a BBQ our back and on weekends I will grill burgers and we'll have beers and watch our kids and eventually our grandkids play on the lawn." Elizabeth decided in that moment that she would never ever forget this Christmas. As Henry places the necklace around her neck she sighed happily. This man was her family. He was her home. He was her Christmas- 355 days a year.

FIN. Merry Christmas everyone


End file.
